What We Leave Behind
by DarkKnight6
Summary: I'm back. Didn't want to do one of those "season-3 speculation" stories. What if everything you came to know and love in a year became lost in an eyeblink? Eventually EA and AnN stuff. PLEASE REVIEW


Author's Note: Please give this story a chance. It may seem a little extreme right now, but stick with me for a chapter or two and I think you might end up liking this story.  Please leave plentiful, lengthy reviews as they will probably end up influencing the continuation of this story.  

What We Leave Behind

Part One: The One Who Lived

Ephram squeezed Amy's hand as the plane took off. "I still can't believe you're coming with me."

Amy smiled at him as he shut his eyes. He could feel his seat shake slightly as the plane continued to elevate. He heard someone say his name – but it didn't sound like Amy. _The excitement's just getting to me…_He heard it again; a man's voice. _There a male flight attendant on the plane or something? _ Ephram slowly opened his eyes and blinked several times.

He saw his father's face and another man he utterly didn't recognize. He rubbed his eyes, not believing what he saw. "Dad? What's going on? Did we land already?"

Andy placed his hand on Ephram's cheek. "Sshhh. Ephram. Do you know where you are?"

Ephram blinked. "Yeah, I'm on a plane, flying to…" This was all wrong. Ephram lifted his head slightly and looked around. He was in a hospital room. There was monitor equipment around him. "What happened? I…I was on a plane…where's Amy? Dad, what's going on?"

A tear ran down Andy's cheek. "Ephram, listen to me. You've been in a coma for three months. Do you remember when we went to that cabin with Irv? When you took the boat out and hurt your head?"

Ephram nodded. He could feel his arms and legs trembling. This was all wrong… "Yeah…the propeller got tangled…Irv rescued me - that was a year ago."

Andy shook his head. "No son. That was three months ago. Irv pulled you out of the water, but we weren't able to wake you up. You had slipped into a coma…"

Ephram shook his head and tried to get up. "What are you talking about? Dad, that's impossible. I was just on the plane…"

The other man in the room, clearly a doctor, gently held Ephram's shoulder and tried to ease him back into the bed.

Andy tried to comfort his son with a thin smile. "Ephram, listen to me. I don't know what you think you experienced, but what none of it was real. While you were physically comatose, your mind was capable of conscious thought; which is why you have memories of things you never really happened."

Ephram knocked one of the monitors down and tried to jump out of the bed, but found his body unwilling to follow his commands. "No. I don't believe you. It's not possible." Ephram pulled the monitor plugs off of his wrists. "What about Madison? Will? What about Linda Abbott?"

Andy stopped his son. "Ephram, whoever these people were, they weren't real! You have to believe me!"

"You're lying!" Ephram clenched his hands into fists. "This is all a dream. Just a dream…" Blackness began to enclose Ephram's sight. He fought to stay up, but heard the thud of himself falling onto the bed.

            Ephram felt a hand cupping his cheek. He heard a familiar voice telling him to wake up – Amy's voice.

            "Ephram, wake up. Ephram, can you hear me?"

            Ephram smiled. "Thank God it's you. Have we landed in New York yet?"

            "New York?"

            Fear suddenly burned in Ephram's mind. He snapped his eyes open and saw Amy's face above him, but they weren't on a plane. He was lying on a couch. He slowly got up. "Where are we?"

            Amy sat down on the couch next to him. "Your house. Your dad said you went into shock and fainted at the hospital."

            Ephram rubbed his eyes. "So it wasn't a nightmare." Ephram took several deep breaths. "What are you doing here?"

             "Your dad asked me to wait with you all day." Amy smiled and hugged him. "I've missed you much."

            Ephram sat up. "All day? How long have you been here?"

            Amy pulled away and checked her watch. "Seven hours. I got here this morning."

            "Can you answer some questions for me?"

            Amy nodded. "Your dad said you'd have tons questions."

            "Did I date someone named Madison Kellner?"

            Amy shook her head and laughed. "No."

            "Did your Aunt Linda ever visit Everwood in the past year?"

            "No."

            "Am I in the Julliard Summer Program?"

            Amy raised an eyebrow. "I know you will be someday."

            Ephram faced Amy. "And you and I. Are we…I mean…are the two of us…"

            Amy blushed and shook her head. "Not yet."

            Ephram shut his eyes. "If this is some complex joke, I'm not amused."

            "No joke."

            Ephram scowled. "Please tell me my dad gave you permission to kill me." Ephram paused and he opened his eyes. "Wait." He turned to face her. "What about Colin? Is he…"

            Amy suddenly broke eye-contact and turned away. "He had another seizure two weeks into the summer." A tear rolled down her cheek. "His parents took him off life-support a month ago."

            "My dad never operated on him?"

            Amy curled up into a ball on the couch and hid her face. "Come time for the surgery, he was too stricken with grief. At the time he'd just learned that the doctors had no success in pulling you out of that coma – there was nothing they could do for you but wait it out."

            Ephram sat back down. "So he didn't kill Colin…" Amy gave him another confused look. "So what about you? Are you okay?"

            Amy shrugged. "Letting go of Colin was the hardest thing I've ever had to do." Amy gave a dazed smirk. "Heh. I'd probably still be an emotional wreck right now if it weren't for you."

            "Me?"

            "You gave me something to hope for, Ephram. By staying in the coma, you pulled me out of the dark and forced me to come to terms with the other things in my life…things that I neglected for Colin."

            Ephram smirked. "Good to know that three months of being a drool machine can have its benefits." Ephram shook his head. "This just doesn't feel right. I have so many memories of a year that never really happened."

            Amy nodded. "Your dad was explaining to me how the dream state seems contrary to conventional time – that dreams that seem to go on forever can really happen in a matter of twenty minutes. In your case, a dream that felt like a year went on for about three months."

            Ephram sighed and grinned. "And it was going so well too."

            Amy placed her hand in his and smiled. "You can tell me all about it on our way to the hospital."

            "The hospital?"

            Amy nodded. "Nina's taking us to the hospital. The doctors wanted to see you again once you'd woken up."

            Ephram got up with Amy. "Just one more question."

            Amy grabbed her purse and sweater. "Shoot."

            "It's because of me that my dad never operated on Colin. I was the one who decided to get hurt on a boat myself and slip into a coma. I'd think you'd be blaming me for his death." Ephram rubbed the back of his neck. "Instead, you've been here. Watching me. Why?"

            Amy stopped on her way to the door. "After Colin died, I spent a week holed up in my room, crying my eyes out. I kept asking God why he let Colin die." Amy turned around to face Ephram. "I still don't know why Colin died. What I _do_ know is that God had a reason. God had a reason for why Colin died and you lived, Ephram; because it could just have easily gone the other way around. There's a reason you're back; a reason why you're standing in front me right now." Amy gave him a smile. "I wanna know why you're the one who lived."


End file.
